Student Research: Perfectly Clear Results

The bkr beverage bottle is quite the popular item. Stylish, smart and eco-friendly, bkr's story is an American business success story…one with chapters written by Krannert students.

The story begins with Prof. Ethan Pew, who teaches marketing and branding courses. He found bkr through a social media channel. Pew contacted Tal Soltz, the founder and president of bkr, with an idea.

“I suggested that my marketing research class could help bkr understand how to expand beyond their current customer base,” said Pew. “bkr is a start-up, so this type of collaboration was of real interest.” A few discussions, some planning and voila! Tal Soltz is addressing a marketing class here on campus.

Soltz provided on overview of the company’s origins, the market it wants to pursue and the goals it wants to achieve. From there, the students began working in groups on a comprehensive marketing analysis. Students performed research into consumer buying habits, identifying segments most likely to purchase, and testing messages for advertising.

There were visits from Soltz, Skype sessions and social media tracking. Each group’s work was reviewed by Professor Pew and by other student groups. Once reviewed, revised and approved by all, the marketing analysis was presented to bkr for consideration.

“bkr was genuinely impressed with the students’ work,” Pew said. “The students were able to demonstrate insights into very specific niches within customer segments. For example, there is a difference between the buying habits of someone who does pilates regularly versus someone who does yoga.”

Insights like this give bkr the opportunity to focus its marketing efforts in very specific ways, maximizing advertising investment. Student Sarah Gandil compared the project to an internship. “I learned a lot about researching and the different tools one can use when analyzing a market and performing thorough research,” Gandil says.

bkr continues to gain in popularity. It has been featured in Us Weekly, Shape, In Style, People Style Watch, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times Gift Guide and others. Many celebrities have been pictured in these and other publications with bkr products.

It’s as clear as a bkr bottle that Purdue students perform marketing analysis that is applicable, valuable and successful.